Justice
U.S. Department of Justice takes Georgia to court over its elections law
WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Department of Justice is suing the state of Georgia to overturn a sweeping elections law passed in March, with a legal challenge that alleges the new statute violates the federal Voting Rights Act. The federal lawsuit is the latest in a series of challenges to Senate Bill […]
Denver program that replaces police with mental health pros seeks advisory board members — and more funding
Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response Program — which redirects some crisis 911 calls to mental health professionals instead of law enforcement — is looking for volunteers to serve on their advisory committee to help track and evaluate the program’s outcomes. The STAR Program deploys emergency response teams that include emergency medical technicians and behavioral health […]
College athletes score a big win in U.S. Supreme Court in NCAA dispute
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that the National Collegiate Athletics Association cannot limit educational compensation to student athletes due to their amateur status. The 9-0 decision in NCAA v. Alston was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who said the college athletics body is not exempt from antitrust law. “Put […]
Post-Trump, refugee resettlement agencies ramp up services
As a member of the Denver Immigrant and Refugee Commission, Yusuf Hassan hears lots of stories from area refugees yearning for their family members abroad. In many cases, those family members have been screened and approved to enter the U.S. as refugees, but are waiting on the final OK from immigration authorities that would let […]
Settled into new homes, refugees in US say they are working for a better life for all
Violence, persecution and wars amid a global pandemic added to the growing number of displaced persons around the world last year. The United Nations reports that 11.2 million people were displaced from their homelands in 2020, bringing the total number of displaced persons in the world to 82.4 million. Of those forced to flee their […]
Biden signs law making Juneteenth a new federal holiday
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation declaring a legal public holiday annually on June 19, the date of the end of slavery in the U.S. known as Juneteenth. “Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names — Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at […]
Colorado third in the nation to pass sweeping data privacy legislation
With COVID-19 accelerating global digital activity — and amid recent high-profile hacks of major companies — more Coloradans may be thinking about where their personal data lives online. Coincidentally, state lawmakers from both parties helped pass major new data privacy protections this year. With Senate Bill 21-190, Colorado would become the third state in the country […]
Cyberattack on New Hampshire school district illustrates growing threat to states and localities
WASHINGTON — In October 2019, officials at a tiny western New Hampshire school district suddenly realized they had a problem on their hands. The Sunapee School District’s servers, documents and other internal information systems had been locked down by an outside entity demanding a ransom payment. A cyberattack, like the Colonial Pipeline one that spurred […]
Violent Colorado arrest puts spotlight on how police treat disabled people
“Violent Colorado Arrest Puts Spotlight on How Police Treat Disabled People” first appeared at khn.org. Nearly a year after police officers in Loveland injured an elderly woman with dementia and then laughed at footage of her arrest, two of those officers are facing criminal charges while the rest of the department undergoes additional training. The […]
This group has some ideas for how to speed up Colorado’s appeals process for child welfare cases
Colorado state lawmakers passed legislation in 2016 that aimed to improve and speed up the appeals process for child welfare cases. But five years later, their goal of resolving cases within six months remains a pipe dream. Though state and federal changes improved the quality and thoroughness of the appeals system, they also inadvertently extended […]
Mobile home company hit by hackers must pay $25,000 to Colorado attorney general
For nearly a year, hackers who got inside a national company’s email accounts had access to hundreds of Coloradans’ confidential personal information, according to a statement from state Attorney General Phil Weiser. The company, which manages mobile home parks, allegedly took 10 months to notify the employees and customers whose information was exposed. Weiser announced […]
Coronavirus lockdowns in prisons test limits of Colorado’s rules on solitary confinement
“Coronavirus Lockdowns in Prisons Test Limits of Colorado’s Rules on Solitary Confinement” was first published by The Colorado Trust. Last summer, Matthew Harter, a 50-year-old from Lakewood, was incarcerated at Centennial Correctional Facility South, a prison in Cañon City, when he started to have trouble breathing. Harter didn’t have COVID-19. He had anxiety, he said, […]